Copilot for Microsoft 365 Gets New Productivity Features and Improvements

Microsoft 365 Copilot hero approved

Key Takeaways:

  • Microsoft has released updates to improve the integration of Copilot for Microsoft 365 in Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
  • Users can interact with Copilot for Microsoft 365 directly in the new Outlook for Windows and the Outlook web app.
  • Copilot in Loop now provides users with more information when they inquire about a file.

Microsoft has recently published a roundup of all the new features and capabilities added to Copilot for Microsoft 365 in March 2024. The company highlighted several improvements such as a new Copilot integration into Outlook and the addition of a Microphone feature in Copilot in Excel.

Microsoft has announced that Copilot for Microsoft 365 will be able to create prompts grounded in their work content across chats, meetings, and emails when using the AI assistant in Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. When responding to user prompts, Copilot will enhance its understanding by gathering relevant information from Microsoft 365 repositories through Graph requests. Microsoft expects to roll out this feature later this month.

Additionally, Microsoft now lets users access Copilot in the Microsoft 365 mobile app to ask questions about enterprise data across chats, meetings, and emails. The Copilot tool lets users quickly catch up on conversations, document updates, and meetings. Users can also ask Copilot to summarize content, explain documents, and translate files.

Copilot for Microsoft 365 can be used to create work documents, blogs, presentations, and emails. Enterprise admins can use Microsoft Intune or any third-party tool to deploy the Copilot and Microsoft 365 mobile apps to corporate devices.

Microsoft has introduced a new Copilot integration in Outlook for Windows and the Outlook web app. Copilot in Outlook lets users answer questions about emails, find specific emails, and summarize meetings. Moreover, Copilot in Excel allows users to interact with Copilot verbally through a new microphone icon. They can also click the “View Prompt” icon to view the Prompt Guide in the chat pane.

Copilot for Microsoft 365 Gets New Productivity Features and Improvements
Copilot for Microsoft 365 Gets New Productivity Features and Improvements (Image Credit: Microsoft)

Updates for Copilot in Loop

Copilot in Loop now provides more relevant information when users ask questions about a file. For instance, users have the option to request Copilot to generate a list of deadlines from a specific table or to summarize the content of the first section of a Loop page.

Lastly, Microsoft plans to roll out Restricted SharePoint Search support for customers with Copilot for Microsoft 365 licenses. The feature enables IT admins to disable organization-wide search and limit Copilot’s access to up to 100 SharePoint sites. This approach offers a temporary solution for reviewing and auditing site permissions until a more comprehensive implementation is provided via Microsoft Purview.